Fistful of Talent

So You Want a Social Media Policy? Maybe Yes, Maybe No...

Your employees are out on the interwebs and using social media. Think quick - what should you do? I mean... what if they say something inappropriate? What if they bash the company? What if they "accidentally" share something confidential? Call your legal team now!  Because it's time for another policy. Or is it?

Lately, it seems everyone is talking about social media policies. For good reason too. Friend of FOT, Sharlyn Lauby of the blog the HR Bartender, has written over on Mashable some good pieces on whether to consider developing a social media policy and ten must haves for your social media policy... good stuff. But in thinking this issue through a bit more for my company and also clients of my company, I think we have to take things a step further when talking about developing or revamping your social media policy. Here's some food for thought.

--Emphasize your organization's values. Many of the concerns people have about their employees using social media, whether for personal or professional use, can be tied back to basic, fundamental values. You want them to be respectful, act with integrity, be honest - and these are likely addressed in your organization's values which apply to the online and offline worlds both. Emphasize values if you are establishing a separate social media policy.

--Remind staff to follow existing rules and policies. Tied back to the first bullet point, there are likely other policies or processes in place that govern how you want or expect employees to act when engaging in social media - remind staff of them. A starter pack on policies to fold into your social media policy could include an anti-harassment policy, confidentiality policy, professional standards and conduct policy... you get the drift. All those policies still come into play and should be applied.

--Highlight the importance of authenticity and transparency. Do you remember hearing about the CEO of Whole Foods a few years back attacking a rival company online under an anonymous name? Oops. That was not a pretty situation. Hopefully your employees have a strong sense of loyalty when it comes to your organization and maybe they have a harmless "competitive spirit" when it comes to others in your industry. Could they be inclined to defend your organization? Might they want to engage in a little friendly verbal exchange with competitors? Make sure they know you expect them to be transparent with their affiliation.

--Disclaimers. Sometimes you may want to have your staff use disclaimers - make the expectations around disclaimers explicitly clear. If you want staff to go the extra step of using a disclaimer that says their opinions are their own and not of the company? Provide sample language. If your staff are generally pretty proud of where they work - let them make their affiliation clear - it's great, easy, free employment branding for you. But if you are nervous about their opinions and how they might reflect on the company, give them standard disclaimer language so they can state their opinions are their own and not those of the company.

--Confidential information. Certainly there are things you don't want them to talk about on the web. Make sure staff have a crystal clear understanding of what they can talk about and what they can't talk about.You probably already have a confidentiality policy in place - emphasize content of that policy and recommend staff re-review it.

--Productivity. Of course, you could be concerned that employees may become unproductive if engaged in social media... that whole "time suck" issue. Understandable. But pre-social media, there were likely available distractions available to your staff which could have been a time suck. Hopefully you have something in place, in a general policy on standards of conduct or somewhere in that employee handbook of yours, that addresses generally the expectation that staff use good judgment and are productive on the job. Performance expectations shouldn't change because of your employees engagement in social media activities. If they aren't meeting deadlines, if the work product isn't up to par, or if the employee becomes disengaged, these issues need to be addressed, as they would be whether it's because of social media or any other kind of distraction.

--Use of company logos and such. This is a biggie... work with your marketing team on the issue but make sure your employees understand the concept of brand protection. If you don't want your logos all over the place, or if your organization has very stringent standards for where, how and when the company's logo or other trademarked materials can be used? Address the issue within your social media policy - but I'd say that you should probably have something else in place that outlines standards for using company logos.

There are other issues to consider with your policy, of course... but these are just a launching pad for you. Sense a theme with everything outlined above though? Many of the major concerns I seem to be hearing from employers about their employees being active in social media really tie back to bigger picture issues which you should probably already have addressed in other channels.  In some ways, it's back to basics when it comes to social media. Make sure you've covered your bases on all other fronts and once you've done that? Maybe you do need a social media policy, maybe you don't. Just don't forget to incorporate all those other areas into what you develop, should you go that route.

Editor's Note - Jessica Lee is a senior employment manager for APCO Worldwide, a global PR firm in D.C, and the Editor of FOT. Like most upscale HR pros, she spends half of her time on recruiting, the other half on ER, Training and OD.  When she's not hammering a candidate to determine Motivational Fit, she's thinking about the future of HR, and wondering how many HR Managers nationally could pull off appearing in a Justin Timberlake video...Just like other upscale HR Pros I know and respect...

Is Your Employment Brand Being Created on the Social Web Without You?

Talk to any business leader or HR professional today about implementing a social media strategy to enhance their Employment Brand and recruiting efforts, and you're likely to be met with a blank stare. Once they snap out of their trance of horror, the first question is often - "But what happens if someone says something bad?" Which makes me wonder...

If an Employee or Customer complains on the Internet - and no one from the Company is listening - do they make a sound?

Ummm - you betcha.

In the book "Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000: Running a Business in Today's Consumer-Driven World" - author Pete Blackshaw points out that companies no longer control how consumers talk about their brands, so it's important for business leaders and brand managers to build credibility and trust online with their web-savvy consumers. And while the message in Pete's book is directed primarily at marketers and brand managers -Recruiters and HR Professionals can (and should) apply many of the same strategies toward creating a trusted and credible web presence for their Employment Brand by participating in digital conversations. Let's face it - the internet is one of the first places where potential employees will be looking for information about your company. It's also where current, former and future employees are hanging out and interacting with "Friends" asking questions, having conversations and sharing information.

So how to shake the fear and get involved? Follow the examples of some of the big kids on the block who've been at it for awhile and start with these steps:

--Develop a Social Media policy and communicate it to all employees. You know you want to do it. Creating policies and procedures is something most human resource professionals live for and here's your chance to feed that need because in this case - it's a good thing. (Example: IBM's Social Computing Guidelines)

--Monitor what's being said about your Company/your Brand and respond appropriately to both positive and negative content. Build a reputation for being responsive/engaging and use the feedback you receive to correct problems or make necessary changes. (Example: ComcastCares on Twitter)

--Develop a strategy for addressing negative content - before it happens. Determine who the appropriate people are to respond and treat comments or questions on the web like a face-to-face adult conversation. Apologize if necessary. Correct inaccurate information with facts and data. Thank commenters for bringing up issues and communicate any changes that will be made as a result of their feedback. (Example: The United States Air Force, whose awesome Blog Response Flowchart could be used as a guideline for social media responses in general.)

--Have a real human on your team create content and respond to comments or questions - not your Attorney, PR person and often - not the HR Manager - since these people often have a tendency to speak in gobbledygook.  Remember the social web is about "conversations" and real humans typically don't talk that way. (Example: Southwest Airlines - Nuts About Southwest incorporates a variety of company voices on their BlogSouthwest page.)

The truth is, as stewards of the Employment Brand, it's past time to implement a social media involvement strategy and plan. Employees and potential employees are likely already engaged in (or lurking within) "conversations" - both good and bad - about our companies on blogs, social networks, video/photo sharing sites, online forums and message boards - but unfortunately, company leaders aren't listening in or participating in the dialog. With no balance or credible response, we risk allowing these potentially negative conversations to become our "Employment Brand" when prospective employees turn to search engines to research companies of interest. Don't be the one to let that happen on your watch.

Editor's Note - Jennifer McClure is a Vice President at Centennial, Inc.,a Cincinnati-based recruitment and coaching firm, where she's charged with strategic recruiting efforts, executive coaching and business development for the firm.  Send her an uncustomized LinkedIn invite at your own peril...  

Implementing Social Media In Your Organization - A Twitter UnPanel...

I am beginning to believe that one of the biggest factors in using social media successfully is simply the willingness to jump in and play. You're reading the Fistful of Talent blog - so that's a good first step. Another step forward? Come and play with me tomorrow via Twitter! At 12pm EST, I'll be moderating an UnPanel via Twitter through hashtagsocialmedia.com and we'll be focusing on actionable steps to implement social media tools within your organization - whether it's to recruit, build your employment brand, or facilitate greater internal communication.

Here's the idea behind using Twitter and this UnPanel... You've probably attended a conference before and realized that it's the wisdom of the crowd that often makes the experience rich. You share with the people around you, regardless the topic, and learn from the real experts - actual practitioners. And the UnPanel plays into that same notion by cultivating ideas from the experiences of participants - just via Twitter though - to create true value, and actionable steps for everyone. We all talk a lot about social media, and there's endless analysis... but our goal through this one hour UnPanel will be to share practical steps for creating a culture that's ripe for social media.

All you need to do to jump in on the action? Click here to join the event and watch as the discussion unfolds. You can watch from the sidelines as the tweets start flowing, or you can join in by making a comment or asking a question - just don't forget to include the hashtag "#social media." Afterward, the guys behind hastagsocialmedia.com will post an event summary which will be archived.

So here's what we'll be tweeting about - and don't forget, you'll be the ones who actually make this work -

• To create an organizational culture that is ripe for and adopts social media, how are you addressing the digital divide with both employees and customers/clients?
• In the social enterprise, what are the skill sets, attributes and values that your employees must embrace?
• What items are needed to create an action plan to adapt your corporate culture for social media? Who needs to be involved in decision making?

And that's pretty much it! Want to learn more? Want to add your thoughts? Join in with me on this little experiment. Hope to see you there.

Editor's Note- Jessica Lee is an Employment Manager for APCO Worldwide, a global PR firm in D.C. Like most upscale HR pros, she spends half of her time on recruiting, the other half on ER, Training and OD.  When she's not hammering a candidate to determine Motivational Fit, she's thinking about the future of HR, and wondering how she can avoid using the job boards to fill the next spot in her organization...

The Recruiting "Community Solution": If You Build It, They Will Come (And They'll Be Engaged, Too!)

Today's mantra of recruiting success is quite a familiar one: If you build it, they will come.  ("People will come, Ray.")

I recall much the same said of career sites only a few years ago. . . and the same of job board resume databases . . . and before that, the same of career fairs.  Today, the intoxicating lure of another elegant solution is again at hand; the panacea of recruiting conversation in 2009 -- the "community".  As we walk trade show floors and read the cascades of blogs and press releases, we see the word and its many references continually resurface.  Naturally, just like last time, the market begins to believe, "[This time] If we build it, they will [really] come."

So, let's assume we build it . . . and let's assume they come.  They join our community; our social network of Rock-Star XYZ Programmers.  As they've done with the other 17 sub-communities they are a part of, they answer a few short profile questions, contribute to a couple discussions, perhaps even upload a photo of their pet and their favorite song.  We, as recruiters, then consider the individual behind the profile to be "engaged".

But are they?  How can we measure engagement?  Sure, there are scores of metrics, but very little in the way of an accepted standard.  Just ask Robert Scoble, or Brian Oberkirch, who likens measuring engagement to "nailing down a shadow."  Does our definition of engagement have anything to do with the community's receptiveness to listen regarding our opportunity?  Further, is it the community itself, or rather the individuals within the community, that are engaged?

My theory is that the juggernauts such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter (although not completely apples-to-apples) are the real time-biscuits of the average social-media zombie (circa 2009).  That means that there isn't much time or energy left for many sub-communities, such as our recruiting community.  Furthermore, we must ask ourselves whether engagement itself has a lifespan, as modern-day recruiting theory suggests multiple states of interest depending on a candidate's personal situation (i.e. cold-cold, cold-warm, warm-cold, warm-warm states of candidate interest, etc.) 

Despite the rush of individuals to professional networking sites, the lifespan of someone's 'engagement' is typically quite ephemeral because candidates, by their very nature, don't stay in the job-searching cocoon forever.  (Well, some do . . . such as the 10% of the market that is always in flux, 'actively seeking' a new opportunity.  However, this segment is certainly the exception and not the norm.)

Many suggest that social networking's new CGM (Consumer Generated Media) tools increase the probability that our talent pool will be more engaged.  However, does providing someone the ability to upload a widget or start a discussion engage them any further than if we were to pick up the phone and personally call them?  Or can the community itself become a crutch? (in the sense that we begin to hear subtle whispers in our ears that web conversation is the same as live conversation).

Here's an example: Let's say a recruiter lets their community know they're throwing a mixer at a local restaurant later that week.  At the mixer, the recruiter physically meets the candidate and buys them a drink - was it the social network that led to a deeper relationship?  Or was it the act of kindness and in-person touch of the recruiter?  I'd say the latter.  Sure, the community enabled another brand touch-point, but the same could have been achieved through an email or text message.

We, in the recruiting world, are quite new to thinking of 'Recruiting as Marketing'.  And doesn't it have a nice ring to it?  For some reason, 'Recruiting as Sales' conjures up questionable scenarios and cacophonic sounds in our minds.  Marketing, soft-selling, and the notion of communities made up of engaged, loving candidates just seems more palletable than 'Recruiting as Sales.'  However, the more we sip each flavor of Kool-aid, the more we realize that true recruiting is neither marketing nor sales.  At the end of the day, it's both.

Editor's Note - Josh Letourneau is the owner of LG and Associates, a Strategic Sourcing, Executive Search, and Human Capital Intelligence firm based in Atlanta.  Prior to founding LG & Associates, Josh worked as a Sales & Marketing professional in the software biz and was a hard-charging Sergeant in the Marines.  In his spare time, Josh enjoys shooting at other sourcing and search professionals as available in random paintball games...

Personal Social Media Policy - Drawing a Virtual Line In The Sand...

This post has been inspired by @TheSourceress (aka Katharine Robinson of Ecosearch).  I've been Tweet Friends with Katharine for several months now and find so much of what she does in recruiting and sourcing AND social media to really be, shall we say, "spot on".  She got my attention last week with her personal Social Networking Policy.

We should all have one.  You have to draw your "line in the sand", because as much as I enjoy my work friends, they don't need to know all the nitty gritty details of the trials and triumphs my family and friends experience.  Unless you're really interested in supporting non-profit community theater - then we can talk.  There are a few that get the "Mom" stuff that is a constant in my life.  So, while certainly I want to be findable and build a network, there needs to be some common sense employed.  And frankly, my non-work friends have been quite vocal that they really don't need to see my @sourcerkelly feed from Twitter on Facebook. So here's my own personal policy:

--LinkedIn (Plaxo, Xing, Naymz, you get the idea) - I connect with virtually everyone (because even neighbors and the swimming teacher need jobs!) but I tend to not include my email on my profile.  If you're in recruiting, you should be able to figure it out just by taking a closer look at the AIRS Sourcing Report.  I'm not big on spam and took my email out months ago when I realized it wa being pulled and used for that purpose.

--Twitter (& Plurk) - I am very open to contact on Twitter, but know that I use it for information gathering and exchange.  It's my virtual watercooler.  So, if you aren't doing one or the other on a variety of topics I enjoy like research, recruiting, hr, accounting, engineering, military, diversity, social media, etc., AND you're just telling that you drank bug juice, I might not follow you.  If you're a recruiting professional and you don't provide a bit of info about yourself, I might not follow you.  Why?  Because Twitter is an excellent place to network! If I can't get a feel for who you are, why would we connect?  And this is important - if you only go by your first name, have no followers but follow thousands, I most definitely will block you.  

--Facebook - I do have a line in the sand here that's pretty definitive.  I know Facebook is a great place to find people.  I show people how to do it all the time.  It's amazing what we draw out of it for our clients and the potential the site has.  But, for me, here's where I need to "know" you. Either we're tight with our work, have built a solid relationship through other online media, are friends or related.  Just hitting me up because we're in the DC Metro area or the HR Profession isn't going to cut it.  

The concept of a personal Social Media Policy is important to keep in mind as you source.  We know there's this fountain of people active in these environments and are tempted to dig in with abandon.  But be conscious that they may have their own unwritten Social Media Policy. It's in your best interest to figure out how to contact them and establish rapport so as not to freak them out or invade their virtual space!

Twitter As A Second Language...

I had the delightful experience of getting to speak to the Staffing Alliance of Maryland Employers (aka ProjectSAME) in mid-February.  I've taken in some of their programs many times over the last 15 years that I've been involved in HR in the Montgomery County corridor- it's a great group.  Never overlook the local groups - especially here in D.C., we had attendees from all kinds of companies, and I have to admit I even got a chill knowing the NSA was present.  (That is so cool...)

We chatted social media - one of my favorite things in the world to talk about - and one of my favorite moments of the day was when I started in on Twitter.  Over the years as a sourcer, I have had moments when I'm describing what I do, or how to source, and I've seen non-sourcing counterparts literally have their eyes roll back in their heads because it was just too much info at once.  I have always figured it was some kind of karma for the number of times I did the same with the engineering managers I use to work with.

But, as I'm talking about Twitter and stressing how it can be used to build brand, peer community, talent community, and of course to find people, I realize my group is looking at me funny.  And no, I didn't spill anything and I wore my smart blue shirt as one of my Tweeple suggested.  At first I thought it was because I had said something about getting all of your information across in 140 characters.  But I started to realize I was using words like Tweet, Twittered, Tweeple, Follow, DM, "@ replies" and more, and that's what threw everyone!  After being enmeshed in Twitterville for more than a year, I did have a second language!

So if you're new to Twitter and need to get the lingo, I thought I'd track down some links for you.  Mashable is one of my favorite sites for keeping up on social media, not just Twitter.  Back in November, 2008, they created a nice list of Twitter specific terms that you can quickly view here.  Mashable also references Twittonary, another great site that allows you to type in any Twitter related site or scan their subsections to get apprised of all the various terms related to Twitter.  And, bonus, you can follow Twittonary on Twitter!

Want to get even further into Twitter? Check out this FanWiki. And remember, the next time you're chatting up a twitter newbie (aka "twebie"), give them reference materials, they're going to need a whole new language for the land of tweets.

Editor's Note - Kelly Dingee is a Technical Writer/Sourcing Researcher for AIRS. Prior to joining AIRS, her experience includes sourcing for Thales Communications, Inc., and Internet recruitment for Acterna (now known as JDSU). Follow her on Twitter and get the lowdown on what's going on each day in sourcing - she's a Twitter machine...

4 Ways to Measure ROI + Metrics of Social Media Recruiting...

We're all trying to step up our game with social media, whether it's recruiting, knowledge transfer/management or otherwise. Here's my struggle though: to get buy in for social recruiting, some of you probably need some metrics to build a business case and show the ROI, right? Because maybe some of your old-school recruiting or HR cohorts see you on Facebook and Twitter during work hours and can't help but to think you're just having fun (or wasting time?), yes? Understandable. So, how do we measure social recruiting to make the case for it?

Why Social Media to Recruit?

First, let's simplify things and get on the same page with 3 reasons to use social media for recruiting:

1. Find and source candidates
2. Gather intelligence and build relationships with potential/actual candidates or communities
3. Build/support your employment brand

There are lots of resources out there to get you started on the "how" and "what." I liked the two lists of five social media tools for recruiting and HR pros to use in 2009 (giving you ten!) by Jennifer McClure as a starting point if you're new to this realm. Our friend, the Social Media Headhunter, Jim Durbin, also has a good case study on how to use social media in recruiting over on ERE.net.

Measurements + Metrics.

Next, let's think about possible metrics and measurement tools. Across different industries, methods to measure social media are growing with some interactive marketing agencies even filing patents for methods they've developed... and that's promising with some parallels to social recruiting. But even now, I think that there are some basic measurements we can use:

1. Influence. Well hot damn! You have 800 friends on Twitter. So what? Your influence, and not popularity, is what's important and should be captured. The greater your influence in social media as a recruiter, the bigger your reach and audience and the better your company's employment brand - but you have to be able to explain why influence is important to your chain - and once you've done that... Twitter influence is starting to be measured using tools like this one or Twinfluence or Twitter Grader. Facebook business pages can also be measured with some beta tools like Facebook Grader.
2. Traffic. Influence will impact traffic, no doubt. But the goal with traffic is to specifically get eyeballs to your careers website and possibly, specific job postings (which translates into them applying for jobs, hopefully). Measure both and consider tools to track referrals in the sense of website referrals... If sharing links to job postings, a blog or your careers portal via Twitter, you may be using a URL shortener. Measure click-through stats via BudURL and Traceurl. If you have a blog separate from your corporate website, use any variety of tools from SiteMeter (basic) to Google Analytics (moderate) comScore (steroids) to track where the traffic is going after your blog. (Hat tip and thanks to Ben Gotkin of RSM McGladrey for sharing some ideas with me on his metrics for their careers blog...)
3. Chatter. Related to both influence and traffic, you may want to measure the chatter taking place about your organization but specifically about your career opportunities, the interview/selection process and what it's like to work there. What are people saying about you? How often are you getting link love, re-tweeted? To measure and assess the chatter, you'll use some of the influence tools above, but you'll also need to monitor social media and periodically audit the chatter. Monitor sites like Vault and Glassdoor. And try setting up Google Alerts or use other search tools using those boolean search strings you're so good at putting together!
4. Intelligence + candidate experience. This is maybe the toughest one and will be a qualitative measurement for the most part - because level of intelligence gained/quality of a candidate's experience has much to do with intangibles and relationships - hard to measure. Whether it's with candidates generally, candidates who become employees, or hiring managers, use focus groups or online surveys and consider asking questions related to/in support of measuring these areas (and then track it over time):

• Recruiters - has their level of knowledge about a candidate community or industry deepened? Is being part of social media improving their ability to source/find/make good matches (because they "get" the community better)?
• Company's presence in social media - is it trusted? Are you part of the conversation and community or is what you do in social media just transactional? How "personal" and engaging are you online?

Of course, all these measurements aside, the proof will be in the pudding with percentage of hires you make using social media which will have to go up over time if you're to continue social recruiting. And, when the numbers don't support the latest and greatest network or site, then change your technique or move on... but don't be hasty and keep in mind that when you source using social networks, you have the bonus of also establishing a presence/enhancing your employment brand and the fruits of deepening or establishing relationships through conversations.

This isn't the social recruiting metrics bible; it's just the starting point. A lot of the thoughts behind these measurements are courtesy of some of my in-house social media gurus who use social media for communications/public relations campaigns. Check out a social media measurement pro my gurus referred me to - Katie Paine - who has great ideas on measuring social media including this top 10 must-do items for your social media measurement to-do list.

And yes, there's still the issue of social media's perceived time-suck. Try using a tool like Wakoopa to initially measure the actual time/usage of Facebook, Twitter and other tools/programs. You may be able to figure out social recruiting costs based on hours spent using social media...although I'd caution about getting hung up in the hours and minutes because recall the reasons we're using social media to recruit: to build relationships, to impact your employment brand - and the time you put into those? Priceless, wouldn't you say?

Jump in the conversation though - how else are you measuring social media for recruiting? What have we missed?

Editor's Note- Jessica Lee is an Employment Manager for APCO Worldwide, a global PR firm in D.C. Like most upscale HR pros, she spends half of her time on recruiting, the other half on ER, Training and OD.  When she's not hammering a candidate to determine Motivational Fit, she's thinking about the future of HR, and wondering how she can avoid using the job boards to fill the next spot in her organization...

Good Ways to Help Me Help You... Whether You're a Candidate or a Recruiter...

Am I channeling Jerry Maguire this morning? Maybe.  I find people.  Predominantly I find them via their online information.  I find people for job openings and reverse the process and find jobs for people. Really, that's what I do in a nutshell- "I Find".  Fabulous if information is organized into a resume or profile, but I am absolutely ecstatic to have less information and dig out More from the world wide web.

I like to suggest to people to find themselves online. Kooky?  Not so much.  First of all, if you're in recruiting, you need to put yourself out there.  Name, Email, Profiles, Resumes, links to business and alumni associations and more.  You want fellow recruiters, employers and candidates to know where you are.  Don't know where you are online or even where to begin?  Googlng is fine, no problem with that. But please, go use Pipl.com. 

I've been using Pipl (it's pronounced "people") since 2007 when AIRS first introduced me to it.  Need a second opinion? Go here.  This past week, I ran all my work contact information and user names through Pipl as well as my personal info, and was astounded by the results!  It's thorough and it also lets me know if I have any holes on-line that need to be filled.

This same logic goes for the job seeker.  Can your future employer find you?  Keep in mind, employers are cutting back, trimming job board access as well as trimming manpower.  You may have to upload your resume on more than one site.  It sucks, it's time consuming.  And if you're going to do that, go to Gmail and create a free account to manage your job search and/or networking.  Because you will get spam - you know it, I know it.  It's one of job seekers' biggest frustrations, don't believe me?  Check out some of the comments on this poll.

You do need to take the time to build profiles on LinkedIn, Naymz, Plaxo, etc. If you're really on the job hunt, make them public profiles.  Many employers don't pay to use LI's recruiter module, they use free techniques like XRay to find people on the site.  You also need to decide if you're going to post your work information on MySpace and Facebook, because employers can definitely find you here, and a lot of what they find depends on what you're willing to share.  And if you have inappropriate stuff, now might be a good time to clean it up and detag yourself from those party photos.  And lastly, go create your resume on-line and hyperlink it everywhere - and I do mean everywhere - your employers, your associations, schools, interests, on-line profiles, everywhere.  Because we'll find you.  More people are going back to old school Boolean to find people on line as costs get trimmed.

Not sure where to begin? Well ask already! Please - as I said from the outset - help me help you!

Editor's Note - Kelly Dingee is a Technical Writer/Sourcing Researcher for AIRS. Prior to joining AIRS, her experience includes sourcing for Thales Communications, Inc., and Internet recruitment for Acterna (now known as JDSU). Follow her on Twitter and get the lowdown on what's going on each day in sourcing - she's a Twitter machine...

Social Media and Business - We Were Communicating Poorly Long Before a 140 Character Limitation...

Have you seen the recent and latest hubbub swirling around social media? Apparently a social media marketing expert shared a not-so-flattering assessment about Memphis while hopping off the plane to talk about Twitter at FedEx.

Someone at FedEx saw it.

Oops.

But don't cry for social media. FedEx being FedEx, they managed to fumble the situation.

Return volley oops.

Still don't know what's going on?  Here's a quick rundown from ZDnet:

"James Andrews, ‘@keyinfluencer‘ on Twitter, was flying into Fedex global headquarters in Memphis to present on digital media to the worldwide communications group at FedEx (150+) people on behalf of his employer ad agency Ketchum.

Upon arrival in Memphis something prompted him to tweet:

True confession but I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say “I would die if I had to live here! 2:58 PM Jan 14th

Andrews' Tweet was picked up by a Fedex employee who emailed FedEx Corporate Vice Presidents, Vice Presidents, Directors and all management of FedEx’s communication department - and also Andrews chain of command at Ketchum:

Mr. Andrews,

If I interpret your post correctly, these are your comments about Memphis a few hours after arriving in the global headquarters city of one of your key and lucrative clients, and the home of arguably one of the most important entrepreneurs in the history of business, FedEx founder Fred Smith.

Many of my peers and I feel this is inappropriate. We do not know the total millions of dollars FedEx Corporation pays Ketchum annually for the valuable and important work your company does for us around the globe. We are confident however, it is enough to expect a greater level of respect and awareness from someone in your position as a vice president at a major global player in your industry. A hazard of social networking is people will read what you write."

Look, we can debate the merit and limitations communicating in 140 character blocks, but it really doesn't matter. It's not like there weren't miscommunications before Twitter... context will get misconstrued. It's what we do. It's not a character count thing, it's a human interaction thing.

So what?

The bigger story to me is the vitriol and small-mindedness of the response, which Peter Shankman posted over at HARO. The note starts out with a valid point, then offers an olive branch of understanding, before finally unraveling into an unrelated rant about corporate budgeting decisions.

It reminded me of the Oscar Wilde quote, "Nationalism is the virtue of the vicious."  (Brand loyalty here serving as the new nationalism.)  And man, that's TWICE FedEx has found itself in the middle of a communications faux pas... anyone remember the FedEx furniture guy in AZ and the cease-and-desist letter FedEx sent him?

Will they ever learn?

--Lesson from James Andrews' tweet: mom was right: if you don't have anything positive to say, don't say anything. 

--Lesson from the FedEx employee's response: if the note you send is emotionally cathartic, it's probably WRONG.

--Lesson from FedEx corporate: you don't need social media marketing training, you need communications training. Call me, I know the perfect guy.

(Geez, I hope the consultants currently working with FedEx don't take that out of context.)

5 (More) Must-Use Social Media Tools For HR & Recruiting Professionals In 2009

In a recent post, here on Fistful of Talent, I suggested 5 Must-Use Social Media Tools for HR & Recruiting Professionals in 2009. In that post, I also promised to provide you with you five more. We're going to get a little further out in the social media waters this time, but I encourage you to jump on in - the water's just fine!

Use video in your recruiting and employment branding efforts- According to eMarketer, 80% of US Internet users view video on-line at least once per month. You know what that means?  It's past time to get creative and add video content to your company's website and a YouTube channel! Check out these YouTube Recruiting Tips on the Jobs in Pods Blog to get started and this article on ERE.net that explains how Recruiting Videos Allow Candidates to Feel the Passion. Next, view these great examples from Microsoft and TiVo that show how having a sense of humor and highlighting what is unique about your company makes for compelling stuff. If you don't have a huge budget or lots of geeks on staff to help you create slick ones like those, then follow Deloitte's example and engage the talent around you. They created the Deloitte Film Festival and asked their employees to answer the question "What Is Your Deloitte?"on film. The result? Over 50% of their US employees participated, and Deloitte got some great videos out of the deal for very little investment.

Join or start Ning Groups to build relationships and source talent - Ning provides anyone the opportunity to create their own on-line social network - for free. It's described as "the software equivalent of Home Depot"- meaning that you can build a network with as many features, bells and whistles as you have the time and desire to create. So, why is Ning an important tool for HR & Recruiting professionals? First, I've already mentioned joining groups for networking and learning from peers (i.e. RecruitingBlogs.com, The Fordyce Letter Network, HRM Today, etc.). Second, you can search for and join Ning groups dedicated to your industry or positions that you recruit for to build relationships with and recruit candidates. A quick search on "job seekers" nets results on the first page for groups related to job search in general, as well as tech jobs and "green" jobs - enough to open your eyes to the possibilities. A third reason to check out Ning is to start a group of your own. Follow the example of savvy recruiters who started LinkedIn Groups as talent pools, and took those groups one step further into interactive talent communities. 

Check out the information and inspiration available at Slideshare.net - For me, a visit to Slideshare is like a trip to a library or bookstore. I can spend a lot of time there, and it's a great way to learn from thought leaders, check out what's new, and research topics. A search for presentations tagged "recruiting" yields information on Sourcing, Employee Recruitment through Second Life, and this gem - 30 Recruiting Strategies in a Down Economy in 30 Minutes. Popular presentations tagged "HR" include Essentials of HR Management, Strategic Human Resources, and Developing an HR Scorecard. Another way to find great presentations is to find your friends and social media mavens with profiles on Slideshare. There, you'll find their personal presentations, as well as any they have tagged as favorites. For example, check out the profile of Brendan Shields of ERE Media and you'll find 71 presentations from ERE Expos, webinars and seminars. (wow) Some of the brainiacs at FOT are there too - William Uranga and Paul Hebert have added some great stuff that can help you see some of the possibilities.    

Use a Social Bookmarking site to learn, share and save useful information- If you're not familiar with "social bookmarking", here's an easy to understand video that explains the concept and a recent list of top social bookmarking sites. I personally use delicious to bookmark things on the web that I'm interested in or in areas where I consult with clients. My tags there allow me to refer back to items for developing presentations, recommendations, and answering questions. For example, see what I have found interesting in the areas of recruiting, coaching, human resources, employment branding and more by checking out those tags in my delicious bookmarks. You can also take a peek at what social media Rock Star Chris Brogan has added to delicious, or what Cheezhead, The Recruiter Guy or Punk Rock HR's Laurie Ruettimann are favoriting on another site called StumbleUpon. (Everything's public.) Think of how you can not only use sites like these to learn from others, but also to share information with others in your company or team! 

It's time to start blogging - Whether it's a personal/professional blog or a corporate blog (or both), it's time to join the conversation and get started if you haven't already! In my brief experience, blogging has been a great way to connect with others and has created opportunities for me personally and professionally. Need more solid reasons to blog? Here are a few: Why All HR Departments Need a Blog, Why Your Company Should Have a Blog, Save Your Career, Start a Blog and (pull up a chair/turn down the sound) Why I Blog, The Video (featuring responses from several prominent Recruiting/HR bloggers). Finally, two more great reasons - because your voice needs to be heard and all of the cool kids are doing it.

There you have it. Five more tools to add to your toolkit in 2009! What else do we need to have in the toolbox, or what are some other ways to use the tools mentioned?

Hit me in the comments with what I've missed!

Editor's Note - Jennifer McClure is a Vice President at Centennial, Inc.,a Cincinnati-based recruitment and coaching firm, where she's charged with strategic recruiting efforts, executive coaching and business development for the firm.  Send her an uncustomized LinkedIn invite at your own peril...